You Can Run, But You Can't Hide
by Ocytavia
Summary: Sequel to Look Before You Seek. X.A.N.A. has been destroyed, and the supercomputer no longer bothers the group. Ulrich is extremely worried about Yumi and Minnie, and Aelita is having love issues of her own. Currently on Standby
1. Chapter 1

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 1

Ulrich watched Yumi from afar as she sat silently with William at lunch. Her now long hair was covering her face, and she hadn't touched her food. Ulrich had been watching her for the past year, ever since she had left the group, and she had gotten much thinner. She no longer took fighting lessons, as a way to avoid communication with the group, especially Ulrich. She only talked with William, as if he owned her or something.

Yumi brushed back her hair, and, although he was seated quite far away, he noticed a purple mark on her forehead, before her hair fell back in front of her face. Ulrich clenched his fists, looking menacingly at William. Ulrich had figured out not so long ago that William was abusing Yumi, but he didn't know what he should do about it. People might not believe him, and Yumi didn't seem to willing to share.

Ulrich suddenly heard pearls of laughter, as Minnie dived into one of her completely unrelated laughing fits. Jeremie, Aelita and Odd groaned, wondering who had set her off this time. None of them had changed dramatically over the last year, except both Minnie and Aelita had grown a bit curvier. Odd was just as scrawny, but Jeremie had grown a little less nerdy, but not much.

Minnie tried suppressing a giggle by covering her mouth with her hand, but it didn't help much. The fact that she had had a fizzy drink at break wouldn't have help either. Fizzy drinks were the worst thing to give Minnie, as they resulted in a sugar overload, and she became very happy for a few hours, but she started coming down around bedtime, usually.

Only Aelita knew that Minnie cried at night. Most nights she cried, but some night she was too tired to work up a weep. Aelita never tried to comfort her, as the group had learnt earlier that she didn't like to be touched. Aelita's only clue to why Minnie cried was the same words that she whispered over and over again; _I wish I didn't exist, I wish I didn't exist. _Aelita figured that she blamed herself for the Yumi situation.

As much as Aelita might have liked to dwell on the mystery's of Minnie, she had her own problems. Jeremie had stopped going on is computer so much, now that Aelita was disconnected from the super computer and X.A.N.A. was defeated, and he was spending a lot more time with her, only Odd kept bringing up her relationship with him whenever they were alone. It had been over a year since they had kissed and Odd had admitted that he loved her, but he couldn't seem to get over it. She had told him clearly that they should remain just friends, but Odd kept insisting that they were more. After all, she considered Jeremie more than a friend, and he hadn't even kissed her. And, as much as Aelita tried to deny it, to herself and to Odd, she did have strong feelings for him.

Odd draped his arm lazily over Aelita's sholder, only to have her shrug it off and grab Jeremie's hand, as he was sitting the other side of her. Minnie and Ulrich shared the other end of the table, keeping their distance for Minnie's sake. Odd was studying them like a project, trying to see if there were any sparks, but even he could plainly see that Ulrich was fixated on Yumi.

Minnie excused herself between outbursts, and tried to walk calmly out of the Lunch room. As soon as she was outside, a very loud outburst was heard from the other side of the doors that made everyone in the room look at the door in surprise, even Yumi. Ulrich caught a glimpse of her sad, lonely eyes, before she turned them to the ground, and her hair fell back over her face.

Ulrich stared at Yumi, slowly chewing his food. Odd watched him, or rather, watched his food. Finally, Odd asked "Are you going to eat that?" Ulrich pushed his food over to Odd, and continued to stare at Yumi, though he could only see the top of her head. Odd, who was shovelling Ulrich's food into his moth, stopped for a moment.

"Why don't you talk to her?" Odd asked, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Ulrich looked at Odd as if he was crazy.

"You know I can't just _talk _to her," he breathed out quietly. "We have history, and it would be too awkward." _And I don't know what William will do to her if I do. _He added silently, watching sadly as William escorted Yumi outside. He wouldn't be gruff to her in front of all these people, but she was walking with a slight limp, which wasn't a good sign.

"Well, nothing will happen if you don't do something," Aelita said. "She doesn't seem all that happy with William, anyway," she added, trying to be persuasive. Ulrich glanced at Aelita, and she looked innocently back. He still hadn't told his friends that he suspected William of hurting Yumi, and maybe they wouldn't believe him. After all, Yumi usually looked after herself, and stood up for herself. It was as though she was desperate to belong to somebody, just so she wouldn't be alone.

"Yumi doesn't belong with William, Ulrich, and you know it," Odd said, glaring at Ulrich. "So why won't you do anything? What's stopping you?" All three of his friends gave him questioning looks. Ulrich took a deep breath. He was glad that Minnie wasn't here to hear his explanation. Yumi and Minnie weren't really the best of friends, and Ulrich didn't know how she would react if she was asked to help the person she was most afraid of.

"I think Yumi is being hurt," Ulrich said quietly. "And I think William is the one hurting her." Odd nearly chocked on his food.

"But she can fight," Aelita said quickly. "She wouldn't stand for it."

"She hasn't been to fighting classes for the past year," Ulrich told them. "And, in case you guys didn't notice, she's gotten much skinnier, and probably frailer."

"But why would William hurt Yumi?" Jeremie asked. "He doesn't seem like the sort of person to do that sort of thing."

"We don't know him at all," Ulrich explained. "We don't know what he's capable of."

"We should tell someone," Odd said. "We should tell someone that William is doing this to Yumi. We have to do something. She's our friend."

Ulrich felt a pang as he heard the word _friend. _He was glad that Odd was so willing to help, but it had been a long time since they had considered Yumi a friend. And even when she was, that was all. Just a friend, nothing else.

"We don't know for sure it's William," Aelita said, although even she thought it was him.

"So, we'll need to get some evidence," Ulrich said, not knowing that he would get his evidence sooner than he expected.


	2. Chapter 2

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 2

The afternoon past slowly for Minnie, who was in one of her French as a second language class. Of course, she didn't need this class, but she was forced to take the class anyway. He teacher was American; as the school thought tat it would be best to learn it from someone who knew English before French themselves. Minnie had thought of correcting the teacher's pronunciation, but knew it would be rude to do so. Her teacher also knew that she didn't need to be taught, so they had conversations in both French and English, and sometimes her teacher would teach her complicated words that she didn't even know the meaning of in English, and she would probably never hear them in a conversation anyway. But most of the time, her teacher just gave Minnie books to read, which was fine for Minnie, who didn't mind reading them.

Minnie was glad when the class was over, as she had been itching to get her things packed. Today was a Friday, and her mother hadn't called, so Minnie assumed that she was allowed to go home for the weekend.

Minnie packed a few of her clothes, and all of her dirty washing in her bag, as well as her book bag and her mobile. Aelita wasn't in the room, so Minnie left her a note, assuming she was with Jeremie. She then walked from her room and left the school building, walking towards her house, taking a shortcut through the woods.

What Minnie didn't know was that both her assumptions were wrong. Her mother had left multiple messages on her phone, which was conveniently switched off. Minnie hadn't noticed that the battery had died, so she just thought that no one had called.

Also, Aelita was not with Jeremie. She was in Odd's room, were both Odd and Ulrich were discussing the Yumi situation with her.

"We have to tell someone…"

"Maybe we should talk to her-"

"No!"

"We have to do something…"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Ulrich finally said, feeling very queasy. They had been chatting for a few hours now with no solution. What he didn't know was that going to the toilet meant he was leaving Aelita and Odd alone together. He didn't know that they were more than just friends, even if that was all Aelita considered him.

Aelita was sitting on Odd's bed, petting Kiwi silently. Odd inched closer. When he was close enough, he reached out and started stroking her hair. Aelita closed her eyes, as though she was trying to will Odd away.

"Please, don't," she pleaded. Odd's hand dropped.

"But why, Aelita?" Odd sounded almost angry. But he didn't need to ask. They both already knew the answer. _Jeremie_. "Why do you like him so much?"

"I don't know, I just do." _How are you suppose to explain?_ Aelita thought. "Why do you like me?" Aelita had not looked at him since Ulrich left. Odd reached out his hand and gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I like you," he began in a whisper. "Because you are kind, because you are beautiful…" He leaned in closer, so close that their noses were just millimetres away. "I like you, Aelita," he said, his voice now less than a whisper. "And I know that you like me back…" And with that, he lean forward, and kissed her, and she kissed him back.

Just seconds later, they heard the door click open, and their stood Ulrich, staring at Aelita and Odd, who had not stopped in time. Ulrich stood there for a few moment s as he processed the information that he had just witnessed. He entered the room, still in shock, closing the door slowly behind him. He then turned to face Odd and Aelita. He started at Aelita first.

"Aelita, what are you doing?" He demanded. "What about Jeremie?" Aelita looked down, ashamed, and with no answer. He looked at Odd, who had kissed almost all the girls in their year. "What were you thinking?" He asked Odd. "Why Aelita?" But, unlike Aelita, Odd had an answer.

"Why Aelita? Because I love her, that's why." Odd was yelling at Ulrich at this point.

"But she's taken," Ulrich told him, as if he didn't already know.

"So she's Jeremie's, is she? The Jeremie who would spend more time on his computers than with her. The Jeremie that hasn't even kissed her, who hasn't actually told her how he feels." Odd's voice was becoming croaky from all the yelling, so he lowered his voice to a normal level. "It doesn't sound like she's taken to me."

Ulrich looked from Odd to Aelita, and back again. "Fine," He said. "You can make your own choices; just don't ask me to take ay part in it." Ulrich grabbed a book and a pen, and headed for the door.

"Ulrich," Aelita said pleadingly. He turned around. "Please, don't tell Jeremie." Ulrich looked at her, said nothing, then left the room.

He was going to the forest to write in his journal. It was getting dark, and he was glad he had a pen light in his pocket. Suddenly, he heard a loud scream coming from the forest, and he started to run. It sounded like Yumi.

When he got to the forest, he saw neither Yumi, nor William, but what he did see horrified him. It was Minnie, mangled and beaten, lying on the forest floor.


	3. Chapter 3

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 3

Yumi had trouble remembering what happened after she left school. A year ago, she would have gone straight home, or just hung out with her friends. But that was last year, and she didn't have any friends anymore, only William. She didn't talk t her parents unless she had to. When she was at home, she stayed in her room. If she wasn't at home, she was with William.

When she first met William, he was the only person in her year who liked her for who she was, so she decided to befriend him. Unfortunately, he changed quickly. His older cousin worked at a bar, so he was able to get alcohol, although he was still underage. He got himself a forged ID and drivers licence. To him, it was just a fun game, but Yumi didn't like the game at all. The first night he became drunken, he tried to force himself onto Yumi, but he was sick all over the back seat before it got to serious.

William raped Yumi six months after he had met her. On that night, Yumi was feeling very depressed as it was. Her family had tried to get her to stop seeing William, after her mother saw her come home with a bruised arm. After a long argument, Yumi had run off, calling William for him to come and get her. William had hit her only hours ago, but she thought that she deserved it. He told her that she deserved it for arguing with him.

When he came by in his dad's new sports car, she got in a sobbed about her family and the argument. After a while, William handed her a bottle. He said, "It'll take the pain away." She thought of refusing, but she already had one souvenir from that experience, so she took it and drank it. It tasted horrible, but after awhile, she started to feel better. By this time, she was very drunk. William was also drunk, but he knew what he was doing. Yumi only remembered asking him to stop, and the pain, hearing herself scream, William covering her mouth.

After that night, Yumi stopped talking to her parents or to her brother, she stayed in her room, and she threw up almost everything she ate. Her parents worried about her, but she told them she was fine when they asked. She grew her hair long and became much thinner. She still spent all her time with William. It was like he owned her now.

Today, she had had a drink before it was even dark. William had driven around wildly for awhile, until they ended up at the edge of the forest that was just outside the school. He pulled up, yanked Yumi from the car, telling her she was too slow. He half dragged her stumbling through the forest, until he tripped, and she landed on top of him. In a flash, he rolled over, trapping Yumi beneath him.

"Please, don't," Yumi pleaded, remembering the feeling of this situation all to well. But William just smiled, like a greedy man who just struck gold. He started undressing her. "Please, stop," She begged again, sobbing.

Suddenly, they both heard a gasp, and Yumi turned to see a shocked Minnie, frozen with fear and shock. Minnie looked back to see a Yumi different from any that she had seen. This Yumi was being over powered, and she had mascara running down her face. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she had a purple bruise on her forehead.

"Minnie," Yumi whispered.

"Shut up!" William roared, slapping Yumi across the face, and she let out a small squeak of pain. Minnie started to back away, but William was already running at her.

Minnie turned to run, only to trip after only a few steps. William reached her and started to punch her. Yumi screamed when the first punch was fired. William ran at Yumi, covering her mouth and dragging her away, afraid that someone might have heard. They had just reached the car when Ulrich found Minnie's body on the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 4

Minnie woke to find herself in a white room with a bright light shining over her. Her head ached, and she shut her eyes, groaning. She felt something move next to her, and her eyes flew wide open. She sat up, trying to ignore the pain in her head, but she felt dizzy and sick, as the room started spinning.

"Minnie," She heard someone say her name. She wanted to turn her head to see who it was, but her body wouldn't let her. She shut her eyes, trying to will her head to turn, but she collapsed back onto her pillow, exhausted. She felt a hand cover hers, and she jerked hers away.

"Where am I?" She managed to mumble out.

"Your in a hospital," said a gentle voice that she recognised, but she didn't know where from. Suddenly, her eyes flew wide open again, as her memories came flooding back.

"Yumi," she mumbled.

"What?"

"William was hurting-" Minnie wasn't able to finish, as she cried out in pain from trying to sit up again.

"Just relax. Your parents will be here soon." Minnie still didn't know who the voice belonged to.

"How long have I been here?" She asked, looking around. She couldn't see properly, her eyes were blurred.

"You've only been here for a few hours. What were you doing in the forest?" Minnie tried to work out who the blurred person sitting next to her was.

"Who are you?" She asked, not answering the person's question.

"Ulrich. What were you doing in the forest?" he asked again.

What are you doing here?" Minnie asked, trying to sound stern, but failing miserably.

"I found you. Do you remember what happened?" Minnie didn't remember what she was doing in the forest, all she could remember was William on top of Yumi, and Yumi sobbing.

"William was hurting Yumi." It was all she could say.

"Are you sure? Was William the one who did this to you?" Ulrich was acting really strange, especially since he didn't usually talk to her at all.

"I don't know. Why do you care?" Ulrich felt a pang, a it became obvious that Minnie still didn't trust him, still didn't believe that he cared about her. Well, it wasn't as though he made it obvious. He didn't know what to say to her, so he stayed silent.

"What time is it?" Minnie asked after a few minutes. Ulrich checked his watch

"It's 10:30," he said.

"Do you know where my stuff is?" she asked.

"Ahh, I think it's still in the forest," Ulrich said nervously.

"Where are my parents?" She asked.

"They were out of town, didn't you know?" Minnie's expression told him that she didn't. She lied back down.

"Is Yumi okay?" She asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her. What did William do to her?"

"I don't know. She was crying… He slapped her." She wasn't sure what he did to Yumi, but she knew that she was hurt.

"What did he do to you?" Ulrich asked, as though a million thoughts were in his head at once.

"I don't know," Minnie said, her head aching from stressing so much. "I'm tired." She turned away from Ulrich, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight Minnie," Ulrich said, leaving the room.

Once outside, Ulrich wasn't sure where to go. He had called an ambulance, and gone in it with Minnie, so he had no way of getting back to Kadic, especially at this time of the night. He rang Odd from his mobile after he got outside.

"Where are you?" Odd asked, but with curiosity, not with concern.

"I'm at the hospital." He tried not to sound desperate.

"The hospital?" Odd asked. Ulrich could imagine the comical expression on his face. "Why?"

"Minnie got beaten up," Ulrich said plainly. "By William," he added meaningfully. When Odd stayed silent, Ulrich continued. "She said she saw William hurt Yumi."

"So, we have our evidence then?" Odd asked after awhile.

"Yeah, but I still need to get back to school," Ulrich said.

"I'll see what I can do," Odd said. "I'll see if Sissi will help." Ulrich sighed. Sissi, being the principal's daughter, was their best hope of getting him back without getting into too much trouble.

"Is Minnie okay?" He asked with a snaky tone of voice.

"She's fine," Ulrich replied plainly, and he rung up.


	5. Chapter 5

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 5

Word that Minnie was in hospital passed around the school quickly, although many people didn't know who Minnie was. She was so quiet and drawn back when she first arrived that no-one made a big deal about her arrival, and she slotted in like any other student at the school, nothing special. Of course, there was something special about Minnie, but they weren't to know that yet.

Minnie stayed in the hospital for three more nights before returning to school early Tuesday morning. She hadn't missed much school, but she was still worried about her school work. She hated leaving things to the last minute, because it meant worrying about it the whole time you waited. It was like having to do an oral presentation, never knowing when your name is going to be called, wanting to get it over and done with, but hoping that your name won't be next. So she got back from the hospital early enough to be there for the beginning of school, so she wouldn't miss anything. She didn't give a second thought to the doctor's order to relax, as she needed to catch up. She had only missed a day of school, but the way she was acting, you would've though she had missed a month. She couldn't help but worry.

She was the first in the classroom for the first lesson of the day: Maths. Maths was fairly easy for her, so she didn't mind doing it, but it was the teachers she didn't like. No matter whether the teacher was male or female, young or old, the maths teachers always disliked Minnie, and she knew why. She was good at maths, and they knew it. Maths was the only lesson she was loud in, because she was almost always right. Her favourite topic was algebra, and she was always keen to point out mistakes her teachers had made, and was always ready to argue a point, whether or not she was right. She argued about the strange way that numbers worked and enquired why things worked the way they did. To her, a straight forward answer in maths wasn't good enough. To her, nothing could be straight forward. In maths, something was either right or wrong, but in Minnie's imagination, nothing was ever what it seemed, and everything could be given a new perspective. If something was wrong, there had to be an explanation, if something was right, it had to be analysed. Her maths teachers hate the way that she was constantly asking questions, so they would do almost anything to ignore her. Minnie once told one of her friends from Australia that she had "Permanent arm-damage" from maths class. Maths was a strong point of Minnie's, but every mathematician must despise her view on it.

So Minnie arrived early, before the teacher was there. She still had a strong scar down her left cheek, running from the edge of her eye to the bottom of her earlobe. She had other bangs and bruises that were less noticeable, but still painful. The rings under her eyes were darker than usual, as she had had less sleep in the hospital, despite the fact that she was drugged heavily. Her parents had come to visit her, but she pretended to sleep, so they wouldn't ask her anything. They didn't stay long, to Minnie's relief, and she was sitting up again, reading. She was reading the magazines that were in the wait rooms. She had snuck out hoping to find a book, but found only the magazines, and hid them under her pillow. She wasn't that fond of magazines, but she had to read something to pass the time, since the television in her room was broken. The nurses were puzzled, but completely oblivious to the fact that they where in Minnie's room.

Since Minnie was early, and the room was so quiet, Minnie rested her head on the table and closed her exhausted eyes. She wasn't planning on falling asleep, but she was too tired to prevent it. She awoke to the sound of the teacher clearing his voice in front of her desk, and people snickering around her.

"If maths is that boring to you, Minnie, then you might like to consider a different subject to amuse yourself." The teacher's smug voice broke through the barrier between her ears and her groggy head. I suppose the teacher was expecting her to glare at him with her evil stare, but she didn't even look at him, and he was taken aback. He was not expecting such a humble approach from Minnie.

"We will be working on fractions today. Turn to page 184 in your text books, please." He ordered once he had composed himself. As Minnie turned the pages of her book, her hands shook violently. She stared at the page, reading and rereading the same question over and over, not really taking anything in. She stared at her blank page, not able to write anything down. Her pen hovered over the paper, held by her shaking hand. Her maths teacher watched her with interest and worry. She was never usually like this. He knew that she had just come out of hospital, but he knew nothing of the trauma she had gone through to end up there.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Jeremie sat with his head down, scribbling away furiously, wanting to get through as much work as possible. Next to him was Aelita, who was working her way calmly through her book. Next to her was Odd, who was having trouble with his work, being at least two weeks behind everyone, and he couldn't help sneaking a few glances at Aelita, who was trying very hard to ignore him. But none of them were too concerned about Minnie, as they had their own problems.

Ulrich, on the other hand, was very concerned. He knew that Minnie still wasn't very fond of him, and it was partly because of Yumi. But she had seemed a bit distance over the past few weeks, and she hadn't really talked to him at all. He kept glancing over at her, worried, as she sat doing nothing. Ulrich was worried, and he knew only one thing was certain, he did not understand. And he probably never would, but he wanted to. He wanted to help her, but she didn't want his help. When the bell went, he didn't rush out of his seat like he usually did, but waited around, and watched as Minnie slowly packed her things away. She didn't notice Ulrich watching her until she rose to leave. She caught his eye, and was so shocked she immediately sat back down again. They sat there, staring at each other, for a few moments. Minnie gave him an evil glare, and kept glaring at him as she made her way to the door. Ulrich watched her leave, and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

The next lesson was French. Ulrich arrived late, and was surprised to see that Minnie wasn't their. They were going to be watching a video for an essay, but it was an English film with French subtitles. Minnie had the best advantage, yet she wasn't there. It wasn't like her just not to turn up. French was one of her favourite subjects, as she had freedom to write, but she wasn't there.

She didn't turn up at Recess either, and Ulrich asked Aelita to check her dorm. Aelita report back at the beginning of third lesson, with no information. Minnie wasn't at the dorm, and nothing was out of place. Ulrich worried all through Science and P.E. Finally, at lunch, he spotted her. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw her get some lunch and go sit down. She sat at an empty table, behind one seated with Sissi and her followers. As she fiddled with her crunchy mash potato, watery vegetables and soggy bread, she passed a note unseen to Ulrich, to Nicolas, who quickly pocketed it. Ulrich would have sat next to her, if he hadn't been so worried about her reaction. He was worried about her beign lonely, but what he didn't know was that she wasn't.

* * *

**Please review! Is it getting interesting yet?**

**OcyTaviAh**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another Chapter up. Hope you enjoy it!**

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Chapter 6

Minnie was standing next to the water fountain at the end of lunch. The bell had rung at least five minutes ago. She was planning to skip class. She couldn't concentrate. She had skipped all the classes except the first, which was maths. She had asked someone to skip class with her. It was not like her to get someone else into trouble, but she had seen him skipped almost every maths class, and the teacher didn't even notice when he was there because he didn't say a word. She wanted to know if anyone had noticed that she was skipping lessons, but the main reason she asked him was because she didn't want to be by herself. Not after Friday.

She had her eyes fixed firmly on the ground, but she still heard the shuffling footsteps of her companion. She smiled at his feet, but this went unnoticed to him, as her hair was covering her face.

"Hi Minnie," said a tall blonde boy. Over the last year, he had become more handsome, and less thick, but he was still lacking a few brain cells. He must be missing some, since he still hung around with Sissi.

"Hey," Minnie said, looking up at Nicolas. She didn't say anything else, but she had to direct her gaze to the floor again to prevent herself from crying. Nicolas knew that Minnie was upset, but he knew her well enough to know that she didn't like people drawing attention to it, either.

"Do you want to walk?" He asked, as nicely as possible.

"That would be nice," Minnie replied, and they began to stroll towards the forest.

Odd, who happened to be in a art class, looked out the window just in time to see Minnie and Nicolas walking together, towards the forest. He tapped who he thought to be Ulrich, who usually sat next to him, only to turn and meet Aelita, who had been taking his place recently. He blushed, muttered an apology, and completely forgot about Minnie and Nicolas for the rest of the lesson.

After a few minutes of walking, they found a grassy spot to sit down. Nicolas started up a conversation, talking about fishing. Apparently, he loved fishing, and he told story after story, which made Minnie feel a little better, because joy was contagious. Soon, she was laughing and gasping and asking "Then what happened?" at all the right moments, even though she found fishing boring.

"Do you like fishing?" He suddenly asked.

"I don't know. I've never been," Minnie lied, so as not to hurt his feelings.

"Maybe I'll take you someday," he said. This information shocked Minnie, and she hoped he would forget this idea before they had the chance. But she hid this feeling, and she smiled and nodded.

Suddenly, Nicolas put his arm around Minnie's shoulder. Surprisingly, Minnie didn't pull back. She still didn't like it, it made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't want to confuse Nicolas the way she had confused Ulrich. She liked Nicolas.

Meanwhile, back in art class, Ulrich was having trouble painting, as it was not one of his strong subjects. Odd, on the other hand, was perfecting his masterpiece. It was a beautiful picture, but somewhat confusing. It was a series of colourful shapes in no particular pattern, but it was still a great picture, depending on what art style you like.

Aelita, who was painting next to him, looked at it with interest. He looked at her panting: A picture of Kiwi, although it was not the best drawn work, it wasn't too bad. In fact, it was a little intimidating, as it seemed to be staring at him, a little like the Mona Lisa. He turned back to his own painting. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but it was fun.

"It's… nice," Aelita concluded finally.

"Thanks, I guess." Odd added a few more dots. The bell rang to break the silence, making him jump and paint a line he wasn't planning to. He was slightly disappointed, because he had spoiled his painting, and he had to go to PE before he could do anything. He would be glad when he could drop PE and spend more time on art.

"Are you coming, Odd?" Aelita asked, as he was just sitting there.

"Oh, yeah," he said, coming back to reality. He got up and walked out, as much as he would rather have stayed.

"I wonder where Minnie is," Aelita said suddenly. Odd had a sudden recollection of seeing Minnie and Nicolas walking towards the forest. He wasn't sure how to respond to her.

"I think I saw her earlier," he said, hoping that she wouldn't ask any more. Odd didn't like to lie, especially not to Aelita.

"Really? When? Where?" Odd sighed, knowing that Aelita wouldn't like the answer.

"I saw her in art. She was walking to the forest…" Odd trailed off, not wanting to say who was with her. Aelita had lost her best friend, Yumi, over a year ago. Minnie was the closest thing she had to a female friend. He didn't want to leave her friendless.

"She's skipping class? I knew something was up."

"Well, it's her first day back after… after the accident. Don't be too harsh." Odd wasn't sure why he was defending Minnie. He didn't actually like her that much.

"But if she didn't want to go back to school so soon, she could have just said so." Aelita seemed quite upset.

"I'm sure she has a good excuse. Maybe she didn't want to worry you." Odd slipped his hand around Aelita's shoulder.

"Maybe," Aelita said, subconsciously resting her head on his shoulder.

Minnie skipped PE with Nicolas, and they stayed out in the forest well after school had finished. When they finally returned to school, Nicolas walked Minnie to her door. They said little, but the silence was not awkward. They were comfortable in each others company.

"Bye," Nicolas said when they reached Minnie's dorm.

"Bye," Minnie said, turning to unlock her door. Nicolas stood next to her for a while, like he wanted to say more.

"Minnie," he said, before she entered her dorm.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Well, I was wondering… I mean, maybe, would you like to go out… sometime, maybe." Minnie smiled at him. She was clueless of the fact that he was trying to ask her out, as she wasn't all that big on romance, as other girls were.

"Maybe. We'll see." Minnie entered her dorm. "Bye"

"Bye," Nicolas said. She closed her door, and he walked away, happier.

Meanwhile, Minnie was inside her dorm, getting ready for bed. She slipped into her nightdress and dressed her wounds with a special ointment the doctor had given her. She got into bed, after putting her dirty clothes in a plastic bag, and grabbed a book. Aelita wasn't in her dorm. She was in Jeremie's dorm, doing homework. When she returned to her dorm, it was five minutes until dinner. Aelita was slightly surprised to see Minnie in bed.

"Are you coming down to dinner?" Aelita asked gently.

"No thankyou. I'm not hungry." Minnie didn't even look up from her book.

"Have you been here all day?" Aelita asked, knowing full well that she hadn't.

"Yes," Minnie said, tonelessly.

"Okay. Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"I'm sure," Minnie lied. She didn't want to be in a big crowd, even though she was hungry.

"Okay."

"She's lying," Aelita told Odd while in line for food.

"Huh?" Odd replied, not sure who she was talking about.

"Minnie! She's lying. She told me that she was in the dorm all day." Aelita sighed. "Are you sure it was Minnie you saw?"

"If it makes you feel better, no."

"I don't want something to make me feel better, I want to know that truth!"

"The truth is, yes. I'm sure it was her and Nicolas going into the forest."

"What?"

"I said, yes, I'm sure," Odd replied, not realizing what he'd said.

"No, what did you say about Nicolas?" Aelita asked as she received a serving of cold soup. Tomato. She cringed at the sight of it.

"Oh, yeah. He was with her," Odd said, casually picking up five pieces of bread.

"He was with her? Why was he with her?"

"Look, Aelita, I'm just telling you what I saw," Odd said as they started towards the table that Jeremie and Ulrich were already sitting at. "I can't tell you anything else."

"I know," She said sitting down next to Jeremie. Odd was forced to sit next to Ulrich, or else he'd look suspicious.

"Isn't Minnie coming?" Ulrich asked.

"No," Aelita said. "She's not hungry."

"I wonder what's wrong," Ulrich wondered out loud.

"She just got beaten up! Leave her be." Jeremie was acting very strange. He had gone very pale and wasn't eating, not that anyone would want to eat the food anyway.

"She's been skipping classes, you know," Odd announced.

"What?" Ulrich said, a little too loud. Everyone stopped to look at him. After a short silence, the chatter of the Lunch room continued again. "What do you mean she's skipping class?"

"She's skipping. I saw her with Nicolas outside during art."

"She was with Nicolas?" Ulrich was shocked. It didn't seem like Minnie at all. She didn't like to be around boys.

"Yeah. They were holding hands and everything." That was enough for Ulrich. He stood up.

"Are you going to finish that?" Odd pointed to Ulrich's soup. He'd already finished his.

"You can have it," Ulrich said as he walked off. "I've lost my appetite."

"You can have mine too," Aelita said, pushing her plate towards Odd. She rested her head on Jeremie's shoulder. "I don't like tomato soup." Odd cringed to see her head on his shoulder, but he could do nothing.

After a short time, Jeremie stood up and left. It was all very sudden. He didn't say a word, just up and gone.

"Jeremie, where are you going?" Aelita called after him. "Jeremie?"

But Jeremie didn't say anything.

* * *

**So, whats wrong with Jeremie? And why is Minnie skipping class? What's going to happen when Minnie realizes Nicolas wants to be more than just friends? Whats going to happen?**

**Please Review!**

**OcyTaviAh**

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	7. Note of Regret

Dear Anyone who happens to read this (Though I doubt that anyone actually will),

I am sorry to say that I have not paid much attention to this story. I may continue this story if I have inspiration, but until then, you may just have to hold out.

Once again, sorry.

OcyTavia

* * *

Editor:

Hello to all. This is OcyTavia's editor. No, she does not proof-read her own work. She get's bored, and she's can't seem to pick up her OWN spelling errors.

Anyway, We are holding a competition. Write what you think the next chapter should be. The Winner's chapter and name will be displayed beneath the chapter writen by the author.

If you would like to enter the compition, send OcyTavia and e-mail at with your chapter, or send it to OcyTavia over DocX.

Good Luck


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